And the Tony goes to....

Most of you know I am obsessed with Broadway and on this Sunday was the Tony Awards. Chelsey and I went to the show last year and it was more spectacular than you could image. So being six hours ahead we didn’t get the broadcast and all the results weren’t out until 4 a.m., so I couldn’t find out anything until Monday morning. Internet is not an easy thing to find over here. Either it is everywhere or nowhere. So we had seen lots of places that had Internet in Barcelona, but you know how you can never find something we you actually want it? Well, we trekked and couldn’t find any so it was after our tour that we finally got Internet. I was a little surprised by the results and a little disappointed. I have seen Billy Elliot and Shrek and love both of the shows. It is hard to compare shows for things like best musical because they are so different. Billy Elliot tells the story of a boy who wants to dance and the workers strike in London. It is a brilliant work and the boys who play Billy are extremely talented, but to me Shrek is Broadway (the show also has amazing Webisodes at swamptostage.com that give you a behind the scenes look at how they created the show and interviews with the cast). It is spectacular sets, characters, costumes and talent. The show takes the story of Shrek that you know and takes it one step further. The show is quarky and funny, but you fall in love with the characters and their struggles and the happy ending! I was surprised it didn’t take best musical and that Sutton Foster didn’t take best actress. I don’t think donkey was nominated for best supporting actor, but he should have been. It is always a tossup because I was shocked Wicked didn’t win in 2003 when Avenue Q took the top prize. It took me many years to get over the grudge and see Avenue Q and while I love the show and think it is great, I love Wicked and wish it had won. Off my soap box and back to Barcelona….
Our flight to Seville didn’t leave until 5:30, so we had the morning to get a few last minute things in for Barcelona. We had already seen the music palace, but decided to go on the tour. The only disappointment was that you could not take pictures. The music hall was original built for a choir of townspeople that is still around today. The main auditorium has a beautiful stained glass sky light that was of the sun and the decorations on the ceiling, columns and walls were flowers and trees. The sky light actually domes inward and above is another floor that has a glass ceiling that lets the light in so that water doesn’t get in it. The stage has 18 statues of women whose bodies were mosaic with their heads and instruments made of porcelain coming of the wall. In the center of the stage was the organ, with 3,772 pipes. The organ had not be used in more than 30 years when they restored it and also made it electronic, so it can play by remote control. The size of the stage can be enlarged by adding to the end toward the audience, covering up the first two rows of seats. The stage also has risers that can come out to accommodate various size choirs or productions. The facility can hold some dance performances, but with a maximum of two dancers at a time and it also hosts concert versions of operas but they don’t host full versions because the stage has no curtain and can’t accommodate sets or backgrounds. It was built in three years, which is impressive compared to how long they took to build other things. Another intresting thing was that the statues on either side of the front of the stage were constructed of artificial stone so that they did not affect the sound waves from vocals or instruments on the stage.
Another thing that has puzzled me this trip is having to show your passport to switch currency. I have traveled to Europe four times and never show my passport to switch money. Dad and I stood in line at this bank for like half an hour and got up to change money and he asked for a passport. Well, we don’t carry them with us (the pick pockets are bad) and so we couldn’t switch any. And it is not like other people know this and we are out of the loop. The two Americans behind us who needed to do the same thing didn’t have their passports. Here is a travel tip: Even if you plan on switching money once you get to where ever you are going, go there with some currency already. Currency exchange at an airport is highway robbery. AAA charges $12 to exchange up to $1000 or free above that and most banks can send off to get other currencies as well. It makes things much less stressful when you already have money for transportation or food when you first arrive.
After the tour we wander to see a few more of Gaudi’s architectural works before heading to the metro and aerobus to get to the airport. Our flight was on SpanAir, which was night, but not as nice as Aegean Air.

Barcelona day 3

I am behind in writing, so I don’t remember all the details of the day. We choose a couple of museums that were going to be free to visit. I hate to be rude, but staring at art piece after piece gets boring and so not paying doesn’t make you feel guilty for going quickly or bypassing some of the ugly stuff. First we went to the Picasso Museum. It was interesting to see some of his early works and sketches from school and the museum did a great job with the chronology of his life and showing the work while explaining where he was. What the museum lacked was any of the famous pictures you had actually seen before. They didn’t really have any of his works that you knew, but there are some other museums down the road we are going to that should have them. Then we headed to the museum of modern art that was supposed to be free but wasn’t, which was just as well. We then headed to the Park Guell to see the mosaic lizard Gaudi did. It is funny because there are two buildings there that were supposed to be model homes for this community that Gaudi had the idea to build, except when people came to see it, they thought the design was crazy and they weren’t interested, so it is now a park. It has the lizard you see in all the pictures of the city and a beautiful bench that is tiled that overlooks the homes that must be 200 or more feet long. Well of course we start at the far end of the park from where the lizard is so we are tromping around, it’s hot and we really don’t know where we’re going. Heading down hill to where we see crowds I had to fall. It really was inevitable because I hadn’t really fallen this trip. I did scrap my arm on the spiral stairs at the Sagrada Familia, but I caught myself so that really didn’t count. They think that they can just take slippery rocks and stick the uneven ones together and call them stairs. So I slipped on the edge and slide down a couple ones before catching myself and trying to shield my camera from the fall. Of course it made this huge noise and everyone was looking, so I hopped up as quickly as possible. I guess it hurt my pride more than anything, but my tail bone hurt too and luckily I had the sun shield thing on the end of my camera, so it made it safely through the fall as well.
After all that we did find the lizard and the house and got our pictures. We walked up a couple more streets to see some of the other homes Gaudi created and then headed toward the water to grab dinner before calling it a day. We have a few hours in the morning before we journey to the airport for Seville.

Seeing the Sites

In Munich Chelsey and I did Mike’s Bike Tour and online it said that there was one in Barcelona. Actually Mike changed and is now Fat Tire Tours, so when we waited for a bike tour that didn’t exist. So when no one else showed up, we headed out to find Internet to find out about another tour, but couldn’t find that so we ended up finding the Fat Tire office and went on the 4 p.m. tour. That gave us just enough time (four hours) to find the Hard Rock for lunch (we needed some normal food) and wander. Before meeting up for the bike tour, we ran into a group of break dancers who were performing in the plaza. They were amazing and you can see one of them in the photos. We meet up at the new meeting point at 4 p.m. to go on a bike tour. Yea! We had been on tours last year in Prague and Berlin and loved them so we were looking forward to this. The tours always depend on the group. Our group was a little boring, but our guide was fun. The tours go to so many places and you get to see so much of the city you don’t always see walking. We went to the governmental buildings, city park, Olympic park and by Sagrada Familia again.
So probably the funniest thing we learned on the tour was that streaking is completely legal in Barcelona, but there are a few stipulations, so read below to make sure you don’t get arrested.
-You must be completely naked, having a shirt on and no bottoms will get you arrested
-You can’t run up to someone and flash them, you must be naked from a distance at which someone can tell you are naked and I guess have time to try to avoid you
Just a few tips to ensure the streaking goes as smoothly as possible! The tour finishes up and we go to pay and these girls that were backpacking had been on some of the tours in the other cities, but had forgotten their coupon for the 2 euros off. We were hanging around to get some suggestions for restaurants and directions and there were two girls that went to college with the tour guide and another guide that worked for the company there. Our guide said that he couldn’t give her the discount without the coupon and she keep on about it. The other tour guide was very funny and made a comment that it was coming from daddy’s bank account, so what did it matter. I don’t think they heard, but the comment was funny. The girls were very preppie and had been rude throughout the tour, so it was a perfect fit. Well, we found a Mexican restaurant, which was a great find. I mean it wasn’t Burro Loco (if you haven’t been to Burro Loco, you need to come to Myrtle Beach and get their queso dip – amazing!), but it was good.

Year of the Scaffolding

You know how the Chinese have the different animals every year? Well, in Europe this is the year of the scaffolding. I can’t name a country that we have been to, starting with Chelsey and I in London that hasn’t had scaffolding. Tower of London, Versailles, Gaudi’s architecture in Barcelona (multiple locations), Barcelona Cathedral , the Coliseum and many more that are being “restored.” That is quotes because some of these places are constantly being cleaned and they never seem to get finished. So when you see pictures that seem a little odd in the way they were taken, it is probably to avoid scaffolding in the photo (this is not always the case and it may just have been a crappie picture!).

Barcelona

All the flights so far between the cities have been on Aegean Air. I would compare them to our Spirit Air, but they are nicer planes and you get snacks still included. All the seats are leather and your knees don’t hit the seat in front of you. Better yet they run on time and in all the flights we have had on them, none have been late or delayed. Waiting for our baggage, I read a sign and within the European Union countries, you are entitled to monetary compensation if your flight is changed within 14 days of your travel, canceled or delayed for more than six hours. I thought it was interesting that the airlines have someone watching out for the consumer and they are therefore encourage to service the passengers better.
Arriving in Barcelona, we hoped on the bus to the city center and then got the subway to our hotel. Well it really didn’t got that smoothly. We got on the first subway, but ended up at a stop that connected to the tram not the right line we needed and then finally got to the right line and to our stop. What isn’t cool about these metro stops is that they don’t often have escalators or elevators, so luggage gets hauled up and down stairs and this gets old really fast. The afternoon we headed to Sagrada Familia, the work of the great architect Gaudi. The church has been in the works for more than 100 years and is not expected to be completed until 2030, but many here believe it will never be finished. The design is unlike anything you have ever seen for a church. Shapes and forms of nature mixed with religious scenes are depicted through the columns, ceilings and facades of the building. To get a view from the church and a little closer look at the spears, we took the lift up the bell tower and then climbed down the spiral stairs, seeing out through the windows and balconies on the way down. The spiral stairs were extremely steep and they had a hole through the middle, just big enough to fall through. Needless to say, everyone stayed close the wall and held tight to the railing. The views were great, but it was nice to be back to the ground floor. Our journey of the city continued as we wandered toward La Rambla, the big street with everything from restaurants, food markets, shopping, street vendors and street performers, not to mention tons of people. It is such a lively and exciting place. Like many of the other cities thus far, Barcelona has a great metro system that makes it easy to explore the city.

Beach Day

Third day is the charm! Today we got on the bus and rode to Kamari, a beach area about 20 minutes from Fira. Since it was still early morning, we walked around the area and scoped out the restaurants. Since the island is formed from a volcano, the beach has black stones as sand. It takes a bit to get used to and it is a little hot, but neat. There are multiple rock jetties both leading from the beach and also a little ways from the coast. The locals used them as diving boards to swim in the ocean. It is hard getting into the water because it is a little steep and when the stones get wet they are slippery and you sink as you walk in them. The water was way too cold. I can’t ever remember our ocean being that cold. I never got in more than about knee deep because it just wasn’t worth it. What is also interesting is the swim wear or lack there of that you see there. Speedos are popular, but not an attractive alternative for most who worth them. Then there were those wearing bikinis, some of which should not have been wearing them, but if you waited long enough, they would sunbath without their top.
It was a nice, relaxing day in the sun and then we ate lunch at a café that was right on the beach. Heading back into Fira, we got ready for the evening and headed back to Dionysos, the same restaurant we had eaten at the night before. The prices were really reasonable, but better than that the food was amazing. Probably the most memorable meals I have had during the trip. I had spaghetti and dad had meatballs. The staff was friendly and you could actually get your check in a reasonable amount of time. It was almost too good to be true. The island has many great pastry places and I had been eyeing this chocolate cake every time we went by one of them, so we went by there for dessert. The cake was chocolate icing with sprinkles and inside was vanilla cake layered with a chocolate mouse. Yum! Tomorrow is an early morning, flying into Athens then to Barcelona. I will be excited to back in a bigger city with a better transportation system.

Santorini

When you see images of Greece, you are likely seeing pictures from Santorini. An island that is part of the Greek Isles, it is the picturesque location used in such films as Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Flying onto the island, you get an ariel view of the c-shaped island formed from a volcano many years ago (now doormat I hope). People make fun of the Myrtle Beach airport, but this really was a small airport with one baggage carousel. We meet up with our hotel transportation and began the trek into town. Arriving at the hotel, the outside was okay looking and the lobby inviting, but the room leaves lot to be desired. There are four twin beds with gross, old bedspreads on them, a tiny bathroom where I almost don’t fit in the shower and it suffocates me because the waster hits me in the fact the whole time and you have to put the key chain for the key in the hole for the electricity, so the air conditioner doesn’t run when you aren’t here. There is also a lovely draping of a fabric piece above the beds and I think the TV is maybe 13 inches (with no English channels, though we did find and E! from May 2008 on earlier).
So we just had to laugh about it because if not you would be miserable the whole time. We began venturing out, but don’t think you are going to get a map. The people here, like in Italy, aren’t very friendly or helpful. Even before getting here it was hard to get information on what to do and see. We spent the evening wondering through the hills and got dinner in time to see the sun set over the Caldera, or volcano area. One of the most irritating things here is trying to get your check. After finishing our meal we waited at least an hour to get our check which we practically had to beg for. Then dad needed to make a phone call so he is talking on the cell phone it’s windy and this old guy at a table too far away to be bothered is yelling for him to keep it down. First off, he was way louder in his request and very obnoxious. I keep my mouth shut or I would have chewed him out because if the idiots would bring out bill we would be more than happy to leave. Next they don’t accept credit cards, which is very stone age and annoying as well. And if we are complaining, I would like the woman behind me to stop puffing on cigarettes the whole we are there. Needless to say it wasn’t a great experience and the food was not great.
Many people make fun of eating at chains when you are abroad, but I have never wanted a McDonalds so much in my life. Safe, consistent, reliable food. We passed one restaurant where they offered the fresh fish of the day. I personally wanted the fish with the flies on it for the extra seasoning. Gross!